An insider claims to have revealed the substantial offer made by the UFC to Jon Jones for a fight against Tom Aspinall.
The top MMA promotion has been working on organizing this massive bout since last November but has not yet finalized it.
Despite this, the UFC reportedly agreed to pay Jones “f**k you money,” as he demanded for this historic heavyweight title unification fight.
Long-time UFC commentator Joe Rogan sensationally claimed Jones requested £22 million ($30 million) to unify the belts, although White quickly dismissed that figure.
Now, Chael Sonnen, a three-time UFC title challenger, states the former pound-for-pound king is guaranteed to earn £8.9 million ($12 million) if he steps into the octagon with Aspinall.
In a video on his YouTube channel, he said: “I don’t believe Jon Jones has turned down this fight.”
“Whatever that number was, and I believe it to be $12 million, in case you’re interested. Got my own sources.”
“The UFC said, ‘Okay’. Jon’s cheque at the end of the night will be the biggest cheque he’s ever got.”
“It will be the biggest cheque anyone has ever got from the UFC.”
“It will beat out [Brock] Lesnar, it will beat out Georges [St-Pierre].”
“Ronda Rousey’s payments weren’t as big as they were exaggerated, this cheque will crush hers.”
Jones, 37, has kept MMA fans guessing in recent weeks by hinting at the possibility of retirement, which would mean walking away from the largest paycheck of his career.
And according to White, Jones` indecision about retiring came after he “AGREED” to face the British fighter Aspinall.
At the UFC 316 post-fight press conference, he said: “Jon Jones agreed to do the fight.”
“Jon Jones was offered the deal and accepted the deal. Jon agreed to fight Tom, yes.”
“You guys have heard me for the last however long, `I guarantee this fight is going to happen. This fight’s going to happen.`”
“You guys told me about all the crazy s**t going on Instagram, and all these other places.”
“But yes, I’ve been saying Jon is going to fight Tom.”
White`s previous unwavering confidence in scheduling the fight, which is understood to have been aimed for UFC 322 in November, is beginning to diminish.
He admitted: “Listen, you can’t make people fight, if Jon doesn’t want to fight, you can’t make him fight.”
“We can try to make him fight, we can throw things at him that inspire him to want to fight.”
“But we’ll figure it out.”
Former long-time light-heavyweight champion Jones hasn`t competed since his dominant win over Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden at UFC 309 last November.
Meanwhile, the Wigan native Aspinall has been sidelined since his swift 60-second victory over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 last July.
Percy Harlow